Well gamers here is a great documentary about the history of the arcade from Gaming Palooza Empire. In this arcade documentary you will see the industry grow from its inception to what we know as the modern arcade. This video covers the games from shooting games like Sega’s Periscope to Atari’s Pong and beyond. It is fun to watch as the industry grows to what we know it as today.

With the new technology coming we can only wait and see what great new designs are going to be presented in the future. At the arcade I work at, the Shake Shoppe Arcade in Seaside Heights New Jersey, we have a nice mix of the classic games and the newest technology. This gives the audience a nice choice of the nostalgic and current games to choose from.

When originally released Star Wars Pinball came with three tables to choose from, Empire Strikes Back, The Clone Wars, and Bobba Fett. Later Zen updated the tables to include Return of the Jedi, Starfighter Assault, and Darth Vader bringing them to 6 tables, but this new one is the most exciting of all.

The new Heroes Within table will actually feature four new tables as opposed to three in a pack. These table packs include both good and evil characters to the tables the most popular to date is the droid duo C-3PO and R2-D2, and of course the most popular space smuggler of all time , Han Solo and his side kick Chewbacca is getting their on table.

Zen states that they are going to offer a total of ten tables in the game when it is released in spring of this year.

Have any used video game titles you want to trade in? Well starting March 26th 2014 the mega-giant Walmart is going to start to get into the used video game trade-in business.

Used Video Games

Walmart is going to offer gift cards for used video games; these gift cards will be valued between a few dollars to thirty-five dollars. The gift cards will not be able to be traded for cash, but will be able to be used for any items in the store. The game consoles that they will be taking game trade for are old Playstation, Wii, and Xbox.

Walmart states there are still nearly a billion pre-owned video games sitting in homes across the country. It believes jumping into video games makes sense now, since the store is doing iPhone trade-ins as well.

This may be bad news for the used video game leader GameStop, but GameStop’s chief executive Paul Raines says he isn’t intimidated by the new player as he feels that their customer base is solid. Although with the news that Walmart was starting this program GameStop’s stock dropped 5%.

Now Walmart tried this in 2000 with trade-in kiosks but it failed, so they are giving it another go.

Only time will tell if Walmart will able to take over the multi-billion dollar used video game market, but if history is an indicator of the future then GameStop’s days are numbered as Walmart has a habit of crushing the completion.

The word “arcade” might not conjure up a place where parents and their children would play games together or where students could get homework help after school, but that is exactly the type of arcade that Chris Perks is planning to bring to the Knightville section of South Portland.

The proposal for the Portland Arcade, which would feature retro games such as Ms. Pacman and Donkey Kong, as well as some of the more modern video games played on Wii or Xbox systems, received approval from the South Portland Planning Board last week… [read the full story]

Toy manufacturer Ganz has recalled its Grumpy Cat stuffed animals because the eyes can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.

This recall involves three styles: an 8-inch Grumpy Cat in a laying position, a 5-inch sitting Grumpy Cat, and a 4-inch Grumpy Cat key clip.

The toys are multi-colored in white with dark brown, light brown and gray fur material. Grumpy Cat toys have blue crystal eyes with the eye lids half closed, a down-turned mouth and white whiskers. This toy is labeled for ages 3 and older. The Grumpy Cat key chain has a black plastic key clip at the top of the cat’s head. The recalled toys have batch numbers 86754 or 224861, and model numbers HGC12974, HGC12982 or HGC12983 printed on the sewn-in label located near the tail of the cat.

Customers with questions can contact Ganz at 800-724-5902 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. For more information, visit this link.

At the arcade we are getting ready for the 2014 season to start. In Seaside Heights we are starting to get our new toys to showcase for redemption prizes and there are a lot to choose from too. Luckily they just had the 2014 New York Toy Fair and many toys shined. The big winners being LEGO, Forensic Science Kits and robots. They dominated this year’s annual Toy Fair.

Lego

There was a highlight on “Do it yourself” (DYI) toys this year. Creativity and ingenuity where definitely showcased at this years Toy Fair, and here are some highlights. We can also look forward to many more Zombie based genre toys. Zombies are hot right now.

“Gauntlet will be completely remade but retaining many of its familiar features. The game will contain emergent local and online four-player gameplay and is a top down hack-n-slash adventure with the Warrior, Valkyrie, Wizard and Elf exploring the classical fantasy dungeon of many wonders, we’ve come to love from old school tabletop gaming, movies and paitings. And of course battling an overwhelming horde of monsters.” – arrowheadgamestudios.com

Warner Bros senior VP of games David Haddad stated “With Gauntlet we combined the arcade style of the original game with a completely new look and feature set that includes emergent, local and online four-player gameplay…”

Gauntlet

As always players of the games will be able to choose from four different characters: a Warrior, a Wizard, Valkyrie, or an Elf. I personally always take the elf. I like the arrows they are easier to hit the target.

Each characters has its own strengths and weaknesses. Gameplay is set within procedurally generated dungeons where players will complete challenges and slay all sorts of fantasy-based monsters, such as ghosts, demons, spiders, and skeleton warriors.

Gauntlet

There is also reported a new art style that will “keep the gameplay fresh.” From what I have seen it is not to far off the original. This was a fun game in the past lets see what it does the second time around.

Some times when you run an arcade, the best job in the world in my opinion, you will find that you have some down time. Well when that happens no one wins. It still cost the same in electric to have the games running as it does to have them being played; well why not have a party!

Super Bowl Party

There are almost a million reasons to have one and not one to not. There is always some sporting event running that you can play up for example a Super Bowl party with prizes that match the teams that are playing. Footballs and jerseys are always popular with kids of all ages. I know I love getting to show off my favorite team colors when I am walking down the street and if I have a story like winning it for only a dollar it makes it even better AND if I can add that I watched my team win on the big screen that makes it even better.

Birthday Parties are a great way to fill the arcade

Birthday parties are always a good way to keep the arcade full during the slow times and with the Sacoa playcard system it makes it even better. When we have a party at the arcade we always offer the customer the choice of unlimited play on non-redemption games as a bonus as you can allow the kids to keep busy the entire time of the party and the hours fly by.

Birthday Parties

Packages are the key to getting the customer to getting the maximum value for their dollar. A nice cake usually is included but it is the games that get them. With the Sacao system you can offer a split of redemption, video, simulation, and other games. The games that give tickets and prizes can be set on the card to give a certain amount of tries per card, but an unlimited amount of video game play.

If you are trying to showcase a game, you can even give unlimited play on just one machine. The system is very versatile and allows easy adjustment. I will be doing an article on just the system very soon. It is very impressive with a very small learning curve.

It is important to remember that birthdays are not just for the young but also the young at heart. Theming is easy to do as well. If someone loves a movie then it is so easy to go out and pick up a few trinkets from that movie and the place is themed at almost no cost out of pocket.

The business that you will receive form just a few well done parties is 7 fold. Plus who does not love a good party.

It turns out the state law that forced Glendale to hold onto dozens of vintage arcade machines doesn’t apply to the games at all, paving the way for an upcoming auction of the machines last valued at a total of roughly $100,000.

More than 50 games, which have been collecting dust in storage for roughly three years are to be appraised by a specialist and then sold at auction, according to a City Council decision made this week at a City Hall meeting.

The machines include games such as Galaga, a space-shooter game; Ms. Pac-Man, a maze game; and Extreme Hunting 2, a shooting game. There is also a two-seat, sit-down racing game called Initial D Arcade Stage Version 3.

When the Titanfall beta period ended it turned out that every games is better with a Titan. The game Titanfall is scheduled for release on March 11 for Xbox One and Windows PC and March 25 for Xbox 360.

Titanfall Arcade

Until then Titanfall has opened an online arcade, Titanfall Arcade, with some really great classic games featuring the Titan. I just got finished playing Asteroids and I have to say with the Titan dropping in the game is much more fun. Not as challenging as the original, but definitely more fun.